SME’s at forefront of Korea-Mexico business forum

As Jisun mentioned earlier, a business forum was also held on the sidelines of the summit on Monday. It was an opportunity for Korean companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to meet and do business with Mexican and foreign partners. Kwon Jang-Ho has this report.

While President Park Geun-hye and President Enrique Pena Nieto announced they would work towards a bilateral trade agreement, Korean businesses were preparing to meet with Mexican and foreign business partners at a forum organized by the two governments. At the first of such forums between the two countries since 2010, 95 Korean businesses were present—mostly small and medium-sized companies coming from various sectors, such as car parts manufacturing, consumer goods, and electronics.

On the buyer’s side, over a hundred and eighty representatives from local branches of car manufacturers, such as Ford and BMW, to retailers like Amazon Mexico. Over four-hundred and fifty individual meetings took place, and a total of 33 deals were made, worth 86-million U.S. dollars. A similar business forum took place in Los Angeles on Saturday, and together over 250 million dollars’ worth of deals were signed.

The forums have been considered a success at championing SMEs and startups that have received support from the Korean government through its ‘Creative Technology Innovation Centers’ launched last year. One of its biggest success stories has been “Marine Techno,” a cosmetics company that specializes in products made from marine collagen. It was one of the first to benefit from a government-backed crowdfunding website launched in January, reaching its funding goal in a day. The company attended both forums in L.A. and Mexico and signed five MOU’s worth 560,000 dollars.

Korea and Mexico are planning to resume FTA talks by the end of the year, and Korean businesses are hoping they go without a hitch, so they are able to explore further business opportunities between the two countries.